


A Counter Reformation

by AwayLaughing



Series: All The Days That Have Passed [18]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Bathing/Washing, Domestic Fluff, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-03
Updated: 2014-09-03
Packaged: 2018-02-16 01:22:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2250612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwayLaughing/pseuds/AwayLaughing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If Shikamaru finds one more collection of hair in the drain he's going to scream. If Shikamaru goes another week without doing dishes, Neji's going to break a plate on the lazy bastard's head. What was that saying about habits and chains? Because if things get too bad, one of them might be lead away in them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Counter Reformation

**Author's Note:**

> _The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken._  
>  \- Samuel Johnson
> 
> Challenge from [here](http://awayandlaughing.tumblr.com/post/68217772129/30-day-otp-challenge-for-the-fluff-impaired)
> 
> Day 18 - Bad Habits

The plan was simple. Fool proof.

 

Food. Shower. Sleep.

 

He'd gotten through phase one with ease – reheated leftovers – and phase two had, at first, been going fine. Except the fucking shower wasn't _draining_. Shikamaru watched as the water gathered around his feet like a really disappointing kiddie pool. Blood tinted the water rusty red, growing lighter as the water failed to drain. Shikamaru, exhausted beyond the point of any return, just closed his eyes and made a mental note to investigate later. Maybe.

 

* * *

 

Seventeen hours of sleep later, Shikamaru stared at the hunk of hair he'd managed to haul out of the drain. It looked like a dead mouse, all things considered, and Shikamaru could only stare in mute disgust. It was so, so tempting to let it go, it really was. Except nothing this gross could be allowed to continue. A second later, the front door opened and closed.

 

“Get your long haired ass in here, Hyūga,” he yelled. He could practically hear Neji's indignation coming to the forefront, though no sound actually came from the hall or entry. “ _Now.”_

 

* * *

 

Rain pelted the windows, wind gusted through the trees and the house was filled with nothing but the sound of the storm, and of dishes being washed. Only, however, because Neji was too controlled to scream. He really, honestly didn't think doing dishes was so bad considering a shinobi's day job. It took about five minutes to clean them if they were done on the same day they were dirtied. There was no reason for him to come home after two weeks to find _nothing_ in the kitchen had been touched. None. At all.

 

Setting the last of dishes to the side to drip dry, Neji wiped his hands on the nearby cloth and turned on his heels. He had a Nara to wake up.

 

* * *

 

Shikamaru's first thought upon waking was – _who left the window open?_ – followed closely by a revelation and the more common thought – _troublesome Hyūga_. The room was pitch black, but Shikamaru didn't need light to know Neji's intolerance for the cold had struck again. Groaning, he grabbed for the blankets. Two hard tugs later, and he got nothing more than a corner for his trouble.

 

“Shikamaru?” Neji sounded sleepier than usual, and Shikamaru managed to push himself up onto his elbows to glare at the older man.

 

“It's fucking freezing, Neji.”

 

For a moment, nothing was said, and finally the blankets lifted slightly. Shikamaru grumbled, but rolled over to the hollow. Immediately a strong arm locked around his waist, pulling him flush against the other jōnin.

 

“You're so clingy,” Shikamaru grumbled.

 

“Your feet are cold.”

 

“That's your fault,” Shikamaru said. “Troublesome blanket hog.”

 

“Name calling? Ridiculous Nara.”

 

Shikamaru was forced to chuckle at that, burying his face into the shared pillow. “You're so...” he groped for the word, but sleep was calling his name. Neji didn't help by pulling him closer, burying his nose into Shikamaru's neck.

 

“So?” Shikamaru more felt the deep rumble than heard it.

 

“Oh go to sleep.”

 

* * *

 

Tap. One breath, two breaths. Tap. One breath, two breaths. Tap. One breath, two breaths. Tap. One breath -

 

Neji slammed his book down.

 

“Would you stop that?” Shikamaru froze, pen poised to tap the desk again. His eyes were wide under furrowed brows, his head still perched on his free hand.

 

“Stop what?” Neji scowled at the pen, hoping he wouldn't have to spell it out for the supposed genius. Shikamaru continued to look confused, however. “My work?”

 

“The tapping, Shikamaru,” Neji said. Shikamaru's brow smoothed out somewhat, staying furrowed enough to suggest Shikamaru still had no clue what he meant. “You keep tapping your pen on the table – it's maddening.” Shikamaru just blinked.

 

“Then leave.”

 

For a minute, Neji thought he misheard. “Did you just tell me to _leave_?” he asked finally, standing. Shikamaru rocked back, abandoning his pens to cross his arms.

 

“Well this is my workspace, so if you don't like the way I work,” Shikamaru trailed off leaving Neji to fill in the gaps.

 

“Interesting statement,” Neji said. “Seems to me you took a different stance when it came to _my_ job.”He saw Shikamaru flinch ever so slightly, but only out of the corner of his eye as turned on his heel, leaving his book behind.

 

* * *

 

In the six hours since Shikamaru sent Neji away, Neji had cleaned his weapons to a sharpness that would make Tenten weep in envy and run through more kata than he'd ever done in a single sitting. This left him still angry, very well armed and incredibly sweaty despite the near freezing temperatures of late January. In short, as he twisted the nobs to turn the shower on, his temper was in no way improved.

 

Even the heat of the water did nothing other than sooth some new aches vying for attention. He knew by later he'd be regretting four hours of standing in the cold striking the air in the morning. It had taken his mind off things, however, an active meditation who's tentative calm was shattered and then kicked across the playground by the sound of someone knocking on the bathroom door.

 

Obviously it was Shikamaru, Neji didn't even need to verify who else would be knocking on their bathroom door. So obviously, Neji was going to ignore him. Also obviously, Shikamaru was a special kind of contrary as when Neji didn't respond, he opened the door and walked right in. Bastard.

 

“Can't you hear the shower?” Neji asked, pointedly scrubbing one arm. There was no response, and Neji resisted the urge to see what Shikamaru was up to. He would not be the one extending himself in this situation. He was not the one in the wrong. Over the shower it was hard to hear what Shikamaru was up to, however, and Neji's spine tingled with something like anxiety despite knowing no matter their arguments, Neji was in no danger. Being essentially deaf and blind was - “what are you doing?”

 

“Joining you,” was Shikamaru's answer as he snapped the shower curtain closed again.

 

“Why?” Neji turned his head to look at the younger man, genuinely mystified. The confusion cut through his anger like a hot knife through butter. Shikamaru took advantage of his distraction to steal the soap and washcloth from him. “I am using tho-”

 

“I'm apologizing, Neji,” a smile played at the corner of Shikamaru's mouth, and he punctuated the statement by swiping the cloth down Neji's back. “Because I am sorry.” Neji looked away, letting Shikamaru work.

 

“You should be,” he said finally. Shikamaru gave a soft chuckle, pressing slightly. Neji turned as instructed, coming face to face with Shikamaru. The hot water hitting his back directly was heaven-sent, and he tilted his head back with a sigh. “Thank the gods for indoor plumbing.”

 

“Mmm,” Shikamaru said, taking advantage of Neji's position to scrub at his neck.

 

“I'm not invalid,” Neji said, “and an apology could have waited until later.”

 

“Mmm,” Shikamaru said again, dragging the cloth over his collarbone. “I got tired of waiting.” There was, Neji recognized, more to that statement than a simple six hours. “You...” he struggled for a way to say what he wanted. Neji let him, obligingly raising an arm so Shikamaru could get his rib cage. Neji didn't have a single ticklish spot, to Shikamaru's rare frustration.

 

“Did I imagine you being happy these last few months?” he asked, finally meeting Neji's eyes. They were, for once, bare and open, no hint of guile. It made it very difficult to be angry with him, those dark eyes as naked as the rest of him. Neji, were he feeling unkind, would call it yet another technique, but each swipe of the cloth had taken some of his uncharitably with it, leaving him tired and open.

 

So, instead of outright answer, Neji took the soap and cloth from Shikamaru and though. Happy? Yes. He'd been happy since leaving ANBU. He certainly slept better, he saw his friends and family more often, had much more freedom regarding missions...and yet he missed it, sometimes. Not always, not even often, but occasionally it bit at him when he passed a group of ANBU.

 

Shikamaru didn't fight Neji for the washcloth, letting the other take it and soap it once again, and Neji was glad for it. He did, apparently, have to fight not to sigh and close his eyes when Neji ran the cloth up his neck and down part of his back, feeling the tension Shikamaru so easily hid behind a bored facade most of the time. Neji smiled ever so slightly, giving a Nara a taste of his own medicine.

 

“No,” Neji said, resting his hand on Shikamaru's shoulder, the other curling around his upper arm. Shikamaru seemed warmer than the shower, and it was hard not to just lean into him. “No you didn't. I have been...” he looked away, though he didn't turn back into the spray to rinse off. Not just yet. “I am happy, Shikamaru.” He met his eyes again, rubbing his thumb along Shikamaru's collarbone in comfort. “In ways I never thought possible.”

 

“But?” Shikamaru asked, Neji was silent. “Neji?” he wrapped his hand around Neji's wrist, anchoring them even further. Though his grip was light, Neji felt the slight tremor in his fingers. “Please. Talk to me.”

 

“This is a ridiculous place to have this conversation,” Neji said instead, pulling away and turning around. Reaching over to his right he grabbed the shampoo, shoving it at Shikamaru. Shikamaru took it with a strained chuckle. “And there is no but, not really. I am simply more adrift than I have been in many years. Possibly ever. It will take more than two months to adjust.”

 

Shikamaru didn't say anything, and Neji didn't push him, instead tilting into his touch as fingers pushed into his hair. His eyes fell closed at the feeling, and he was almost positive Shikamaru pressed a kiss to his hair. Presumably in a spot lacking shampoo. As fingers pushed into his scalp in a blissful combination of message and hair washing Neji took a deep breath.

 

“Neji?”

 

“Mmm?”

 

“Just making sure you're still with me.”

 

“Sleeping while standing is not a trait I've absorbed from you,” Neji said a little wryly, opening on eye. “Much to my endless disappointment.”

 

“I think I'm being made fun of,” Shikamaru said, dragging his fingers through Neji's hair. Neji pulled a little to help him get past a few knots near the end. “And I'm going to need more shampoo.” Neji smiled.

 

“The bottles never come big enough, do they?” he asked and felt a kiss for certain, this time on his shoulder.

 

“This wasn't a problem until you moved in,” he said, “of course neither was the drain.”

 

Neji opened both eyes and cocked an eyebrow, looking over his shoulder. “Really? You're bringing that up now?”

 

Humour sparkled in dark eyes. “Well it's pertinent,” Shikamaru said, “now turn back around. I'm not even half way done yet.” Neji kept his gaze for a second, finally caving when Shikamaru tugged his hair, smiling slightly the whole while.

 

And making a note to verify Shikamaru's apparent innocence when it came to clogged bathtub drains. It wasn't like the Nara himself was bald, or anything.

 

"Don't scheme while I'm bathing you," Shikamaru said. "It's indecent."

 

"I don't scheme," Neji said. Well, tried to say, but Shikamaru took that moment to knead at a particularly tender spot and it came out more like  _'I-ohhh'._  "Oh gods do that again." Shikamaru did, and Neji's plans vanished faster than dog food in an Inuzuka household.

 

Not showering together more often was apparently their worst bad habit ever. Neji, being into self improvement, vowed to rectify that.

 

**Author's Note:**

> The summary sounds much more dire than the actual story itself is. Oops.


End file.
